WAVERLEY will almost certainly have to find extra sites for gipsies and travellers over the next nine years.

While it is anticipated that there will be some capacity for expansion within existing sites, council officers acknowledge there will be the need for more private sites.

A study on behalf of three borough councils – Waverley, Guildford and Surrey Heath – has identified a need for increased provision in all three districts.

That is put at an extra 86 pitches up to 2011, of which 37 are needed in Waverley, compared to 30 in Guildford and 19 in Surrey Heath. Looking further ahead to 2016 – the date required by the South East England Regional Agency (SEERA) – this rises to a total of 42 in Waverley.

In addition, the study looked at the need for accommodation for travelling show people, with an extra 27 households needed on dedicated sites across the three boroughs up to 2011, although only two of them are in Waverley.

Details of the anticipated need up to 2016 will be presented to a meeting of Waverley’s Environment and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday, September 11.

The committee is being asked for its views on the gipsy and traveller needs information before it is considered by the authority’s Executive Committee next month. A report prepared for the meeting highlights a number of reasons for the significant level of need for new pitches.

“There is a low turnover of pitches on current authorised local authority sites and a low level of new pitches approved through the planning system each year,” it states.

“There are waiting lists for sites across the study area and there is a backlog of need from households currently living on unauthorised developments or encampments.”

The report says gipsy and traveller households are leaving the area because of the lack of authorised sites, while more than 21% of households are living in overcrowded accommodation.

All local authorities in the region have been asked to provide the information to SEERA as part of its partial review of the South East Plan.

Councils have to take into account current and forecast needs, as well as the existence of any backlog of unmet need, in addition to considering the need to protect and enhance the natural environment.

Account also has to be taken of the importance of facilitating access to employment opportunities and local services to, as the report puts it, “support social inclusion”.

No mention is made in the report of the likely public reaction to any increase in gipsy and traveller provision, but the creation of new sites is likely to be highly controversial.

High Court action is pending after plans to increase the number of mobile homes on a private gipsy site in Ellens Green were thrown out on appeal after sparking overwhelming local opposition.

Proposals to provide permanent quarters for travelling fairground workers on land off the A281 in Alfold caused widespread local anger six years ago but were ultimately unsuccessful.

Currently, there is just one Surrey County Council run gipsy site in Waverley – at Runfold – where there are 10 pitches with accommodation for 20 caravans.

All the other sites are privately owned – the largest being New Acres in Alfold, with 35 pitches and 50 caravans, followed by nearby Lydia Park in Dunsfold with 22 pitches but 59 caravans.

Burnt Hill in Dunsfold has 10 pitches and 10 caravans, while there are two pitches and four caravans at a site in Borough Farm Road, Milford, and six pitches with 12 caravans at Rodborough Common in Milford.

There are other small sites at Hill Tops in Alfold and at Rushett Common in Bramley.

There are two travelling show people sites in Waverley, both of which are privately owned – Burnt Hill in Dunsfold, which has five pitches and 10 caravans, and the Old Brickyard at Hambledon, which has one pitch and one caravan.

SEERA will eventually decide on the allocation of pitches required for each district, and a consultation is planned to take place between May and August next year.